HARTFORD, Conn. — For Charlene Hauck, the defeat of her daughter’s high school crew team on a trip to England was a disappointment but the trip home was a pure nightmare.

Hauck and her 17-year-old daughter, Stephanie, were among several hundred people aboard a Virgin Atlantic jet that left London Tuesday night for Newark Liberty International Airport. However, bad weather forced the plane to land in Hartford, Conn., where it sat on the tarmac for four hours.

Passengers described a scene of chaos and desperation. Babies cried and tempers flared inside the cabin, as frustrations rose with the mercury. Food, water and patience ran low. Three people passed out and several were given oxygen. The airline said it was also looking into reports the air conditioning on the plane was not working.

“I know we were on that plane at least 3 1/2 hours, and it was just scorching. People were dripping,” Hauck, 47, of Egg Harbor Township, said today after finally arriving back in Newark.

“After awhile people panicked; people started shouting, getting more abusive,” said another passenger, Luke McNorton. “It got a little scary at times; you thought people might get violent.”

The 300 passengers and 14 crew members no choice but to wait inside the Virgin Airbus A340-600, which landed at Bradley International Airport at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. It was nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday when they were finally allowed off the plane.

At first, passengers said, they thought they’d be on the ground in Hartford just until the weather cleared before continuing on to Newark. But then the flight was canceled and they were forced to remain on board as airline and airport officials scrambled to accommodate the unscheduled arrival at Bradley, where customs agents had to be called back to work in the middle of the night so they could process the passengers.

“Every fifteen minutes it was like, well, now we have a power failure. Now we’re sitting in the dark. Now we have fuel issues,” Hauck said.

After finally being allowed off the plane at around 1 a.m., passengers were put onto shuttle buses that took them to a customs building, where Hauck said they remained in a dreary, overheated space for more than an hour. Finally, Virgin arranged for air-conditioned buses to take them to Newark Liberty’s Terminal B.

Virgin released a statement today thanking passengers for their patience and apologizing for the inconvenience. Virgin said it would offer each passenger one round-trip ticket on a future flight.

“The safety and welfare or our passengers and crew is of paramount importance,” the statement read.

The incident comes on the heels of a new federal Department of Transportation rule that went into effect in April, imposing hefty fines on U.S. airlines that strand passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours. The rule, however, doesn’t apply to foreign carriers, but the Virgin ordeal re-ignited efforts by passenger advocates to extend it to all airlines flying in the U.S.

“Given the horrific and dangerous situation that took place on the Virgin Atlantic flight, DOT must step in immediately to include international flights in the three hour and air conditioning rules,” said Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org. “We are currently reviewing all the legal options available to the victims, including criminal sanctions against Virgin.’’

Another rule, which requires airlines to provide water, food and operable lavatories under contingency plans for tarmac delays, is expected to go into effect later this year, and would apply to foreign carriers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the Virgin incident highlights the need for the rule.

“The events reported overnight in Connecticut reinforce my belief that passengers have rights and are entitled to fair treatment when they fly,’’ LaHood said in a statement.

Michael Boyd, an airline industry consultant in Denver, said the incident demonstrate why the rule is flawed.

“This proves that airlines don’t always have an option to limit the delay to three hours,’’ Boyd said.

Hauck said the ordeal was foreshadowed in London, when the departure from Heathrow Airport was delayed by an hour. Even then, she said, the cabin was unusually warm.
“When we first got on the plane I commented to the young man in front of me, we’ll be lucky if nobody has a heart attack,” said Hauck, a cardiac nurse at Atlanticare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.

The prospect of a long, uncomfortable return flight to the U.S. was another letdown for Hauck, after her daughter’s rowing team from Egg Harbor Township High School lost in the finals of the Groton Challenge Cup to the City of Oxford Rowing Club in Henley on Thames, England.

Though she was still waiting to hear from the airline about any compensation she would receive, Hauck was able to muster sympathy for the flight crew.

“One thing I have to say in defense of Virgin Atlantic,” she said. “Their staff was in the same situation we were.”